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driving a very used 240 home

there is a relay under the dash that is real noisy while the car is trying to start. I don't know what it is... small square metal

anyway thanks all...


...michael
 
Timing belt and tensioner along with all other belts and spares. A tune up and take a good look at the car on a lift. Make sure the alternator is charging and isn't gonna puke on you. I'd want extra plugs, cap rotor, a plug wire or two. Do the fuel filter. Extra light bulbs and some sand paper to clean terminals if needed.

Make sure you check the car over well for scorpions and black widows?

No shortage of Black Widows down yonder. I think good insurance to carry spare belts(timing, altntr, tensioner, etc..) also I would take a careful look at the tires, especially if it's been sitting for a while. Shipping might be less money, but if you drive, you should be able to parallel the old Route 66(I-40 parallels iirc), I did on a drive to LA and stopped at several now defunct old businesses of that by gone era. :nod:
 
Don't underestimate the heat and hat it will do to the car as you drive it. Yesterday, we hit 109F, that's a lot for a car built in 1976. At a minimum, stay off the interstate and take tons of breaks.

My last Amazon blew its HG on I-10 as the new owner was heading to TX, my advice would be to have it shipped and to then take the time to go through it properly. A road trip can go from fun to not very fun quickly once the car starts acting up.
 
Between the gas, food, hotel, tolls if any, shipping a car with a bunch of unknowns sounds about right. If you're still going to "go for it" get AAA and bring cash and have a back up credit card. GL
 
Yeah, they see themselves standing on the side of the road , in the middle of nowhere without cell service waiting for a tow truck. :)
 
that does not sound like the end of the world to me...

...m

I'm in Tucson and will be around most of this coming week. If you need assistance, give me a shout. Happy to assist, as long as my schedule allows it.

Did you take it to the Revolvstore for a once over ?
 
If they have your car now. Make sure to have them check the intank fuel strainer if the car has been sitting. The early cars with the side of the tank mounted fuel pump setup have a strainer under a plug in the bottom of the fuel tank. There is actually a bulletin from Volvo back in the day to remove or replace them due to clogging which was killing fuel pumps. Having a dirty kjet fuel system will stop the fun from happening.
 
cool... they have some cool stuff parking outside. The Saffron 544 is cool.

...m

That Saff 544 belonged to a Matt who was very active on TB. He had a 165 that's finished in a pearl white, I'm not sure if Andy had it on the lot or not. Matt used to own the Revolstore and sold it to Andy before his cancer really took over.

Andy and his guys know their ways around these cars.
 
does not sound like fun to most of my family...

...michael

:lol: Big +1 there.


"Wanna go on a cross country trip in a well used, hopefully roadworthy, 42 year old Volvo? There's a good chance for breakdowns and roadside repairs. Some might even be a long way from civilization!"

"Um, what? No."
 
Yeah, they see themselves standing on the side of the road , in the middle of nowhere without cell service waiting for a tow truck. :)

Yeah...but I'm often amazed at the reluctance that many Americans (I do not know how people in other countries feel about their own countries) have to just get out and drive. There's not going to be any interstate highway between Tuscon and Philly that does not have pretty robust cell service. Back roads, sure...but if you use your head, you're not going to do things like drive through the San Carlos reservation in a 40 year old untested car (yeah, I've been there..and they actually DO have cell service even there, it's just a lot sketchier than what you'll find on I10.). But my real point is that as long as the car runs and is basically safe (stops, has lights, etc.) there's no hazard driving it just like you're going to once you get home. We live in such a developed country...it surprises me when people are reluctant for safety reasons to go out and experience it at eye-level.

The biggest problem you'll encounter is being passed by a constant flow of semis and other cars. So if you do break down, someone will be along in short order. Well before you get devoured by coyotes and armadillos ;-)

I speak from experience having driven last August a rust-free 1976 245 that I bought in Albuquerque and brought back home to Boston. Roughly equivalent to your contemplated trip. My car had around 280K (more now :) ) and I did what you're doing now...getting it checked out by a reputable Volvo shop before heading out on the road. We replaced a fuel injection relay, put on a new set of wires and plugs, and were good to go. I did replace the tires before heading out as (has been said here) there's just no accounting for what might happen with old rubber. I carried a spare timing belt and tensioner, a bunch of radiator hoses, and alt belt. All of these still reside, un-used, in the trunk as they were not required on the trip. And a basic tool box (which wasn't trouble to carry on the flight out to NM). We could have probably picked up the tools in Walmart if we had wanted.

4 days on the road, with my freshly-minted driver kid, and it was a great trip. And while we had sore butts after 2500 miles behind the wheel (those 42 year old seats were among the first things to be replaced in the car), we pretty much always had cell coverage if we needed it. I highly recommend it. Go for it!

(the kid, by the way, pointed out that we could have just slept in the back of the car...but hotels and friends' beds were one geezer concession I insisted upon)
 
Well then the final thing to check is the cigarette lighter. Need to charge that cell phone somewhere close.
 
I'll add that the one not-properly diagnosed problem we had before leaving NM, that didn't get sorted out until we got to MA was a non-functioning in-tank fuel pump. We didn't figure out what was going on until later, but what it was is that the main fuel pump just couldn't pull once the tank got 1/2 down. Below 1/2 a tank the car would start to buck and hesitate from fuel starvation. Even though we didn't figure out why, we did figure that if we just filled up every 150 miles or so, we were good. So that added to the stops we made...which was good all things considered. No problem finding gas that frequently (again, on the interstate). Although we did buy a 5gal gas can and filled it up somewhere in OK....just to be safe (never needed it as it turned out).

Ultimately, it turned out to be a bad power wire going into the in-tank fuel pump. Taped that all back together and the thing ran fine all the way down to empty. (although I've since replaced the pump and the wiring properly)

So, maybe another thing to pack in your trip emergency supplies is a roll of duct tape.
 
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